Ryan Webster from Valley Community Church in Larned, KS, joins us on this episode of Church Planting Conversations. Ryan brings a wealth of wisdom, not only about rural church planting, but also about leadership, the importance of creating space as a pastor, and recognizing that God calls us to communities, not just churches. Ryan was born and raised in Western Kansas in the old west cow town of Dodge City. He and his wife Rachel have been married for nearly 27 years and they have three children, Ruthie, 23, Samuel, 21, and Elijah, 17. He's have been pastoring for over 25 years, 22 years at Valley Community Church, as the Lead Pastor. They've grown from 20 to over 250-300 in regular attendance in a rural community (Larned, KS) with a population of 3500. In September of 2023, they launched our second campus.

You can find him at https://www.larnedchurch.com or over on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ryantheodorewebster.

Since 2007 Gabe Kolstad has been the Lead Pastor at Westside Community Church (listed as one of Outreach Magazine's Top 100 Reproducing Churches of 2021). He is passionate about building thriving leaders and thriving churches, and has been coaching and consulting pastors and churches for over a decade. He is a Certified High Performance Coach, Founder of the Multiply PDX church planting network, and a host on multiple podcasts. On a personal note, Gabe is a fan of good food, coffee and travel. He and his wife, Melissa have three adult children (Dawson, Caitlin and Caleb) and live in Beaverton, Oregon.

gabe@gabekolstad.com

Brian and Lisa welcome special guest, JR Rozko, Director of Missional Innovation for Churches for the Sake of Others and co-founder of Canton Abbey and Common Life Church.

JR was a part of the International Friends Multiplication Conference in November at the Malone campus as he led a workshop discussing fresh expressions of church and what that could look like. He has a unique and important voice in Canton, Ohio and we hope that church leaders and church planters alike will find this episode particularly challenging and encouraging!

Learn more about the ministry work JR is a part of:

Canton Abbey

Common Life Church

Order Of The Common Life

Churches for the Sake of Others

Learn more about EFCP:

Evangelical Friends Church Planting